


Out of the Shadows

by badwolfrise



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Drama, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, M/M, Revelations, Scene Gone Wrong, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:55:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29523960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfrise/pseuds/badwolfrise
Summary: Summary:  Post ‘Bad Blood’ but before ‘Rise Up’ Desperate to find her mother and worried, Clary tries to create a foresight rune to see the future to find out how to rescue her mother. But it is interrupted and instead of getting a vision of the future a bright light engulfs her and the gang. When it goes away, they think that nothing’s changed but one trip to the New York institute has them shaken with all the changes. How would they cope when they realise they are in the future? Thrown years into the future, they have to learn how to cope with the changes and also figure out how to go back in their time.How will they cope with the state of their future? Especially Alec when he sees the life he has isn’t the one he was planning.Time travel shenanigans ensue. Malec angst and fix it.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 24
Kudos: 83
Collections: Shadowhunters321





	1. The Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This future world is a mish-mash of the show and the book series. Show wise this is set post s3 finale and book wise it is set in an alt world of ‘Queen of Air and Darkness’ book. Where it diverges from the book is this, Alec is the Consul. So future Consul Alec is residing in the Gard in Alicante with Magnus and their sons Rafael and Max Lightwood Bane. Since this is a mishmash of show and book, I have taken liberties of changing things, so as well as those changes, Rafael and Max are Alec and Magnus’s biological kids, so the boys are half shadowhunters half warlocks.

To say things have been awkward since Alec did his announcement of his betrothal with Lydia would be an understatement. Jace and Izzy had both tried to talk to him. They were convinced that he was sacrificing his future life for the family reputation and he shouldn’t do that. They wanted him to marry for love.

He knew his siblings meant well but marrying for love was something of a fairytale. As the eldest he had the responsibility to look after his family. It fell on his head. He didn’t have time to be selfish. He needed to look after reputation. To make that happen if he had to do a marriage of convenience he was willing to do it. He didn’t care that he was sacrificing his love. He was rational.

It was for the good of their life. Their future.

So he ignored his siblings disappointment. He knows they worry about him but he didn’t want to. He knew what he was doing.

He had to do it.

And yet…why did he feel awful at the thought of Magnus? A flash of his face when he announced his engagement flashed in his mind and he felt awful. It hurt.

He shook his head. It was for the greater good.

So despite the dislike he was facing from his beloved ones, he didn’t change his mind. So he marched ahead with the wedding date. They needed to get that wedding done quickly so they can carry on focusing on getting Valentine.

Alec was walking through the corridor when he heard some talking. He turned back and realized that someone was inside the basement, talking. He could vaguely recognize Jace’s voice. Frowning at the hushed tones, Alec walked over and tweaked the door open silently to see what was going on.

From the corner he noticed that Jace, Izzy, Clary and…Alec’s heart froze then. As he noticed that Magnus was there too. Clary was sitting, with Magnus sitting right next to her and both of them were looking at a paper? Izzy and Jace were standing behind them, particularly Clary. Clary seemed to be drawing something while Magnus would pitch in. His heart pounded as he saw Magnus.

He was confused. How was Magnus here unattended? He knew no one in the institute knew Magnus was here. So why was Magnus here quietly? And why were they all hiding or doing things secretly. Just then he noticed that Clary picked up her stele and started to draw something on her hand.

Now feeling suspicious, Alec pushed the door open and marched in.

“Okay what on earth all you all doing?” Alec demanded as he looked at them. All four of them looked up, appearing startled. Clary let out a yelp and the stele dropped out of her hand.

“Shit Alec, why did you do that?” Jace asked as he looked at Alec.

“What the hell is going on?” Alec asked.

“Alec we-“ Isabelle started but then she stopped. Her eyes widening. Alec was confused but he looked where she was looking and knew why she stopped. There was a bright light that was engulfing the room.

“Wait, Clary what did you draw?” Magnus shouted as he looked at her

“I-I didn’t get chance to finish the drawing, Alec surprised me!” Clary said it.

“Clary what were you trying to draw?” Alec asked in confusion. Clary looked at him but before she could say anything, the light overtook him and Alec closed his eyes. The light overtook him completely and he felt something pulling him down.

* * *

Alec felt consciousness vaguely pulling at his minds, coming to his sense. He felt someone calling him, a warm hand around his own.

 _“Alexander, wake up…”_ the warm voice called out, calling for him to wake up. He felt comfortable. He opened his eyes and noticed that Magnus was standing over him. Alec’s eyes widened and he jumped up, putting distance between himself and Magnus. He saw hurt flash through Magnus’s eyes which made him feel sad. But he shook it off and looked around. He noticed that they were outside the institute. Feeling calmer now that he realized they were just outside the institute, he ignored the hurt in Magnus’s face and he looked at his teams with a glare in his eyes.

“What the hell have you guys been doing? Without talking to me? And secretly hiding?” Alec looked at them, feeling betrayed at the way they were blatantly trying to do something secretly.

“We…we were trying to create a new rune to help find where Valentine and Jocelyn. Clary came up with the idea and we got Magnus to try and see if we can all work together to create a rune for that…” Isabelle trailed as she looked at Alec, guilt seeping off her. He could also feel the guilt coming from Jace.

“I-Alec. You’re, you’re a stickler for rules and we thought if we make this work we can find out how to get them and just go for it together…” Jace said it while looking at him.

“And you have been pretty busy with the wedding preparation so would be hard to catch you Alexander” Magnus’s voice said it, immediately catching Alec’s attention. Alec looked at Magnus and felt his heart skip a beat as he registered his cold voice and gaze. They weren’t even dating before his engagement, yet why did this hurt? Why did he feel like he was betraying him? He looked away from Magnus and looked at the 3 people who were trying to look away from him.

“Rune creation? Do you think it is so safe and easy to create new runes? It is dangerous! And you hid this from me? I could have helped! Certainly reminded you on how ridiculous this is and the dangers! You shut me out? Is that how much I am worth?” Alec asked angrily, his voice rising and rising as he felt betrayal run through him.

“Alec…we” Clary started but Alec simply looked at her.

“Don’t Clary. I’ve known you for a week, can’t say the same about my siblings who think I am not worth a lot to talk to” Alec said it as he looked at them angrily.

“Alexander…”

“Alec!”

Alec tried to walk towards the institute but Jace caught his wrist and looked at him.

“Alec stop. I know that you’re very busy trying to keep things and keep our ass safe because of all the rules we’ve broken. You get the heat. We know that! That’s why we didn’t tell you” Jace said as he looked at Alec.

“If we do this without telling you then you won’t get blamed and we get the heat if things go wrong. We did it to protect you Alec. I am sorry if you feel betrayed but we did this to protect you because we know your position, especially now with Lydia involved” Isabelle said it.

That seemed to calm him as he relaxed. Their words did make sense and it made him feel less betrayed because they did do this to try and protect him. It was stupid but they weren’t shutting him out so he relaxed.

“What was the rune meant to do? Because all it did was teleport us outside of the Institute…” Alec trailed as he looked at the institute.

“Foresight, Clary came up with an idea to create a vision rune to get a vision of the future. We thought it would work but I don’t know why we teleported instead” Magnus said it as he pondered.

“You surprised me. I was drawing it then you came in and my stele fell off my hand before it could be complete, I am not sure how it becomes a teleportation rune” she trailed in confusion.

“Well that was a complete failure, I will go back to my humble abode. I don’t think I am wanted here” Magnus said it as he looked at Alec. Alec felt his throat drying as he saw that. Magnus turned around and tried to walk away but suddenly something happened. A bright light wrapped around Magnus’s hands and it pulled him until Magnus was standing right next to Jace and Alec.

“Woah! What the hell is that!” Clary shouted as she stared at them and Magnus.

“I…okay that was definitely a result of a magic or rune” Magnus said it as he rubbed his hand “Looks like it doesn’t seem to want me to separate. Biscuit what on earth did you do?” Magnus asked as he looked at her in confusion. The rune she created he looked over, it wouldn’t work like that.

“Okay…let’s just go inside the institute and we will try to figure out what the hell is happening. And nobody will keep me out of the loop for stupid reasons, even if you are trying to protect me? Am I clear?” Alec asked as he looked at all 3 of them, his eyes avoiding Magnus still. He couldn’t face him, looking at Magnus made him feel guilt and also sad. He didn’t need that, he needed to feel rational.

“Okay, you got it big bro” Isabelle joked with a smile to try and make him happier.

Alec nodded, gave one quick look to Magnus and started to walk towards the institute, the 4 following him.

Just when Alec thought the crazy day had ended and they were near sanity, he got the shock of his life when he walked inside the institute. All five of them immediately stopped once they were inside as a few things happened.

The first thing that happened was they all noticed how different the institute looked. Things had changed, there seemed to be remodelling that had occurred as things were not in the right places and some new furniture were in place as well. As if that wasn’t enough, Alec specifically noticed that the shadowhunters around them weren’t familiar. There were many new faces, faces he didn’t recognize. The other thing that alerted him was their reaction.

All the shadowhunters immediately froze and then took out their weapons, aiming all towards them looking very worried and angry.

“Woah, woah, woah! What the hell are you all doing!” Jace shouted

“Stand down!” Alec shouted but the weapons didn’t fall.

“It’s not a bright idea to march into our institute with faces that look like our head of the institute and her family” Said a blond boy with curly hair.

The statement he said though startled Alec and he knew by the look on Jace, Clary, Izzy and Magnus that they were equally confused as well. What on earth is this unnamed shadowhunter talking about? The acting head was Lydia and no one here looked like her. It was confusing.

“What the hell are you talking about? And who are you?” Isabelle asked in confusion as she looked at the blond boy.

“Not very bright, you’re wearing the head of our institute’s face and yet not putting any effort trying to emulate her” this time a dark haired girl said it while looking at them.

“Wait…what?” Clary suddenly said it as Isabelle looked shocked.

Just then amongst this tense situation, they heard heels clicking. Immediately Alec, Jace, Clary, Isabelle and Magnus looked where the noise was coming from and he noticed that a figure was walking down. Alec felt the blood drain from his face as he heard gasps from Isabelle and Clary. A side glance had him noticing that Jace and Magnus appeared flabbergasted as well.

Alec knew why. For walking down from the stairs was none other than…Isabelle. She appeared older, her hair longer and she was dressed up in a black dress but it was her none the less. She walked down until she was standing in the middle amidst the shadowhunters and she tilted her head as she stared at them. Her eyes on them.

It was Isabelle. His Isabelle. He knew his sister inside out, this girl…although she appeared to be few years older than Isabelle, she looked like her. He was shaken.

The older Isabelle tilted her head as she looked at them in confusion in her eyes.

“Oh boy…” trailed older Isabelle as she observed them.


	2. Hard Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More confusion ensues as the gang of five find them in danger at the face of the 'imposter'. But is that really an imposter? What exactly did Clary's rune create?

“Magnus, what is this? Is this some sort of an illusion?” Alec asked as he gave Magnus a side glance. Although he felt awful meeting or even interacting with Magnus since his engagement, he knew he could depend on Magnus. He hated to admit it but he trusted the warlock a lot.

Magnus didn’t look at him but his hands lit up with a blue mist as his eyes flashed, showing a glimpse of his true eye colour before they vanished. He still didn’t look back at Alec, but Alec saw Magnus opening his mouth.

“No…this is no spell, this is real” Magnus whispered as he did a defensive position seeing how all the shadowhunters were aiming at them. He clenched his fist, ready to defend the shadowhunters beside him from more shadowhunters. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Magnus. But the thought of protecting Alec and the others made him too high alert to laugh at the bizarre situation.

The older ‘Isabelle’ walked a little closer towards them. Her eyes were trained on them, assessing them. Even though nothing made sense, she did look exactly and also exactly like his sister.

“What the hell is going on? And who the hell are you? An imposter! How dare you take our sister’s face and over this institute!” Jace shouted. Alec wanted to hit his parabatai and sent annoyance through their mental link. They had every weapon aimed at them, antagonizing is not the way to go!

This Isabelle raised her eyebrows and folded her arms. In a move that was so familiar that he heard his Isabelle gasp. He even felt surprise ringing from Jace through their bond.

“I’m the imposter? Wow that’s rich” the other Isabelle said it as she observed the five people in front of her.

“Demon or rogue shadowhunters, you guys are terrible at plan if you decide to take my and my family’s face and try to infiltrate because you are doing a terrible job of it right now” she said, her voice deeper as she glared at them.

“What? No, that’s ridiculous. I am Clary, this is Magnus, Alec, Isabelle, and Jace. I don’t know who you are, but we are who we say we are. You are clearly the one who is the evil one” Clary said it as she glared at older Isabelle.

Alec groaned and glared at the red-head. Was he the only one who was sane and not trying to make the situation worse?

At their claim, the other shadowhunters surrounded the other Isabelle started grumbling, and shouting, looking even ready to attack them. Immediately Magnus erected a shield that encased the 5 of them in a protective barrier. That seemed to rile the other shadowhunters up, but he saw something flash in the other Isabelle’s eyes. A recognition. She blinked and then looked at the shadowhunters around her.

“Enough. Weapons down” she commanded.

Her command surprised Alec, and evidently the other shadowhunters as they stared at her in shock.

“But Madame Lightwood…” trailed the blond boy.

“I can handle this and myself. All of you put your weapons down. You can stay in formation around them but weapons down” she commanded again as she looked at them.

They obeyed the head of the institute and put the weapons down. But still kept the protective stance up. She gave them a look of approval and then looked back at them.

“We took our weapons down, you should take down the shield too” the other Isabelle looked at them. Magnus looked rigid however, he was defensive. He wasn’t putting the shield down. Alec took a deep breath and reached out to put his hand on Magnus’s shoulder. That seemed to startle the warlock as he froze and looked at him into his eyes. The eyes were intimidating and Alec felt his cheeks flush but he didn’t look away.

“Do it, I don’t think this will help in the long run, we clearly need to talk” Alec whispered.

He saw confliction in Magnus’s eyes but he looked away and dropped his hands. As his hands dropped, so did the protective blue shield which had been around them.

“Seriously Alec?” his Isabelle said it but Alec gave her a glare at which she shut up.

“We’ve done it” Alec said it while looking at the woman in front of him who wore his sister’s face.

“Before we do anything else, prove it to me you are who you say who are” said the other Isabelle staring at them.

The other shadowhunters started to murmur at that, but one more glare from the woman had them shutting up.

“Okay that is impressive” he heard his Isabelle whisper. Alec gave his sister a glare and then looked at the woman again.

“Wait, what?” Alec muttered as he stared at her.

“Prove it to me that you are who you say you are and not disguised demons or rogue shadowhunters. Tell me things that only you would know if you were them” she demanded as she looked at them.

“How do we know that you aren’t the imposter with the disguised face? How do we know that you really are Isabelle?” Magnus asked as he looked at her.

The other Isabelle looked at Magnus and smiled.

“Okay I will humour you with benefit of doubt and prove that I am who I say I am, I will say something that only Alec and Jace know about” the other Isabelle started “When I was 13, before Max was born I found out about dad’s infidelity. And I kept it hidden from you both until Alec was 18. That lead to a week of drama in our household.”

Alec, Isabelle and Jace’s eyes immediately went wide and their jaws well. Clary and Magnus’s eyes went wide with the new information.

“Wait…is that true?” Magnus asked as he looked at the Lightwood siblings.

“Yes…yes that’s true. Only the people in our family knew that…” Isabelle trailed as she looked at the woman wearing her face….the woman who was her “She is me…” Isabelle trailed as Jace stared with shock in his eyes, speechless for once. Alec, who had been seeing similarities, now took it for the truth as no one else outside of their family unit knew that. This woman was his sister. He wasn’t sure still what was happening, but she was definitely his sister somehow.

“Now prove to me, that you are who you say you are. I wanna hear from the ones wearing Alec and Jace’s faces” she demanded while looking at them. The other shadowhunters whom they didn’t recognize quietly watched this, doubts in their faces.

Alec’s eyes went wide and he looked at her, digging his mind on what he could say that only Izzy would know. As he was thinking, Jace, who had been very silent finally spoke up.

“Only my family and…now Clary know this. The story about the falcon that my dad gave to me. And what he did to it. To love is to destroy” Jace said it curtly.

“Wait you told Clary that story?” the Isabelle next to him whispered as she looked surprised. Even Alec was surprised that Jace told Clary that. Jace kept all details about how Michael Wayland treated Jace to himself tightly. Certainly not telling anyone random. He would only tell people who he trusted hence why only they knew it. But he had told Clary? Alec didn’t know how he felt about that as he still didn’t fully trust Valentine’s daughter.

The older Isabelle’s eyes widened and then she looked at Alec expectantly.

Alec sighed, wracking his brain to figure out what he could say to convince her when his mind went to a memory he had of her. Of the time he nearly called off his parabatai ceremony with Jace.

“Remember the day before my parabatai ceremony with Jace…?” Alec started, and he felt curiosity perk up from his parabatai bond with Jace “I had…you told me two words that stuck with me. Heart and soul” older Isabelle’s eyes widened and she smiled. A genuine smile that he recognized.

“I can’t believe you still remember that…” the Isabelle next to him whispered with a smile.

“What happened before our parabatai ceremony?” Jace asked. Alec also noticed that even Magnus was peering curiously.

“Doesn’t matter, but only Izzy knows that. So does the information Jace and I gave proof who we are?” Alec asked while looking at the older Isabelle.

“I’ll take that, oh boy. I was hoping you weren’t who you said you were because that really complicates things…and here I thought I’d have a relaxing uncomplicated day for once” the older Isabelle muttered and sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. First thing she did was look at the shadowhunters who were still in formation.

“They are who they say that are. Disperse and carry on with your normal duties. I will handle this unique situation” older Isabelle declared it as she looked at them. The shadowhunters appeared reluctant but a hard glance from older Isabelle and they walked away, going in different direction doing whatever their duties was. Only older Isabelle was still standing where she had been. She then walked until she was standing right in front of their Isabelle.

“Can’t say I ever saw this coming…come with me. Let’s go up to my office and settle down to talk this out” older Isabelle said it curtly before she turned around and started to walk up the office. The five still stared in surprise. Older Isabelle turned around and looked at them.

“That wasn’t an option, come with me, we need to settle and talk. So let’s go to my office” she commanded.

The others were hesitant, but Alec took charge and started to walk. Isabelle turned around and kept walking. Alec followed along, and since Alec started walking, Isabelle followed, followed by Jace and then Clary. Magnus watched the way others seemed to naturally follow Alec. Despite the friction it was clear to him that come hell or high water, they were loyal to Alec and trusted Alec enough to let him lead, all bar Clary though Clary had only known the shadow world just few days so that did make sense. The natural leader qualities impressed Magnus and for a moment he smiled forgetting just what Alec was doing. A reminder about Lydia cut that and he put up his blank face before he also started walking to follow them. Something weird was going on and they needed to figure things out.

* * *

As they walked up, Alec slowly took in the glances and he knew they were still in their New York Institute. Things still looked similar and the closer they got, Alec soon realized where they were going. They were going to the head of the institute office. Older Isabelle’s office. He was still trying to work out what all that meant.

The older Isabelle opened the door and led them in. She went straight for the office chair in the middle and sat down in the head chair and she pointed at the chairs in front of it, a signal for them to sit down.

The office itself didn’t look that different.

“Are you still as confused as I am?” Jace asked, whispering to his ear. Alec didn’t respond but he nodded.

“Do you know anything Magnus?” Clary whispered but Magnus simply shook his head.

“I know as much as you do. My magic though is sensing weird things. Things don’t feel normal, it feels displaced” Magnus whispered. They then heard the older Isabelle clearing her throat and all five of them stared at her.

“Do you guys even know what is happening?” older Isabelle asked as she stared at them. She simply got blank faces.

“Not really. We are still a bit confused” Alec admitted, taking the step to speak since he was the leader and the others were shockingly silent for once even though in other moments they wouldn’t hesitate to speak 100 miles an hour.

Older Isabelle shook her head and laughed while holding her head.

“Hey, why are you laughing at us!” Isabelle asked, glaring at herself?

Older Isabelle shook her head and looked at them.

“What year do you think it is?” she asked.

Immediately Alec noticed a few differences. Magnus froze up, while Clary, Jace and Isabelle looked confused.

“You can’t be insinuating…that’s not possible…” Magnus trailed.

“You always were the brighter one Mags” older Isabelle trailed while smiling at him as Magnus appeared even more shocked.

“What are you talking about?” Clary asked appearing even more confused.

“What year do you think it is?” older Isabelle asked again.

“It’s 2016 obviously! Why are you asking stupid questions like that?” Jace said it curtly as he glared at older Isabelle, losing his patience.

“Ahh that is quite early…” older Isabelle trailed before she looked at them “See here’s the clincher, you aren’t in 2016” she said it as she flipped a desk calender that was on the office “It’s 2026. 10 years into your future exactly. My present” older Isabelle declared that as she observed them, a little amused smile ready on her face.

Silence enveloped the room for few seconds, before shouts echoed.

“What?!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to put things into perspective, season 1 was in 2016.  
> 2016 ages are:
> 
> Alec: 23  
> Isabelle: 20  
> Jace: 20  
> Clary: 18
> 
> The future is set in 2026, so the gang is 10 years into the future. Simon is a daylighter and is dating Isabelle.  
> My future timeline’s Changes include: Max and Rafael Lightwood-Bane are Magnus and Alec’s biological children not adopted (although I did love how the our boys got their children in the books). Alec is the Consul (the highest position in the clave for those who watched the show only and not the books) and he lives in the Gard in Idris with Magnus and the boys. Isabelle is the Head of the New York Institute. 
> 
> I am happy you guys are enjoying the story so far, I am a sucker for the time travel trope and there aren’t enough in this fandom so I thought I’d fix it! Enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think!


	3. Some cats out of the bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang from the past keep getting more and more shock as the chapter goes on.

Clary, Alec, Isabelle, Jace and Magnus all stared at the older Isabelle sitting at the desk. She was staring at them with a smile. An amused smile. She seemed to be finding this very amusing.

“But that’s-that’s not possible right?” Clary muttered under her breath as she looked at the possibly future Isabelle.

“You just found out in 2016 that demons, angels and fairies exist but you question time travel?” old Isabelle asked as she raised her eyebrows.

“Time travel isn’t a norm for us either” Jace shouted as he looked at his…sister incredulously.

“Very true but consider how many weird things we have survived over the past 10 years, time travel is barely a blimp for me…your future is very interesting guys” older Isabelle muttered thoughtfully as she shook her head “Though this certainly is the first time even we are dealing with time travel but your looks and memories certainly imply that you guys are definitely from the past” she concluded as she looked at them.

“Isabelle-” Alec started and he blinked when both of the Isabelle’s turned to look at him instinctively. That action had both Clary, Jace, Magnus and even Alec blinking at the instinctive reaction. Okay, it was impossible to ignore the fact that this girl was a future version of his sister. She was her alright.

“Maybe we should think of a naming system…” Magnus suggested as he looked at the older Lightwood.

“I stay Isabelle, you are Izzy” Isabelle said it as she looked at her younger counterpart. Her past self’s eyes went wide and she glared at herself.

“Hey! Why do I get Izzy?”

“Seniority, I am 10 years older than you now” Isabelle stated it as she smiled at herself. This seemed to make her even made as she started fuming and would had tried to deck herself if Jace hadn’t suddenly placed his arm around her shoulder.

“We have bigger things to worry about Izzy, just let it go” Clary piped in as she looked at her new friend. Izzy glared and Clary but got out of Jace’s hold and took a deep breath.

“As annoying as that is, you’re probably right” Izzy conceded. Izzy looked at Alec and then she blinked hard as she noticed that her brother didn’t seem to be paying attention. He seemed to be staring at Isabelle intensely. She couldn’t quite decipher what his expression was. Magnus, as if picking up on her look, also turned to look at Alec. Izzy looked at Magnus and saw that he was intently staring at Alec. Watching Magnus stare at Alec made her feel awkward. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that her brother definitely felt an attraction and possibly more towards Magnus. Hell since Magnus popped up, her brother stopped being Jace focused. That itself spoke volume. And it was probably this attraction and desire to please their parents that drove him to do this sham of a engagement. Her brother was always self sacrificial. Of course the second he has a chance to have something of his own, he’d sacrifice it for the family’s ‘greater good’. She hated what her parents had done to her brother. Oh how she wished Alec would choose his own life, a life she knew that Magnus could offer. But both were at odds due to her brother choosing to do the ‘right thing’. The tension between them was palpable and one look at Jace let her know that she wasn’t the only one aware of this dynamic between their brother and the warlock. It was bullshit, she only wished her brother could see that and be selfish for once.

“Wow…I’m not sure how whatever Clary did caused us to time travel but…I’m amazed and proud of you being the head of the institute Isabelle” Alec finally spoke as he stared at Isabelle. At this Izzy’s eyes went wide and then reality set in place. Head of Institute. She was the head of the institute?

“Can’t say I could have ever seen that coming…congrats sis!” Jace declared as he patted Izzy’s back and gave Isabelle a pleased look. Isabelle simply laughed.

“That I have been for the past 7 years, but thanks for the congratulations anyway!”

“Congratulations Izzy!” Clary shouted while looking at Izzy.

Izzy however, did not look pleased. She was still observing Alec. She noted that Alec did seem happy for her but also there was an odd feeling coming off him. As if he was wistful. She frowned as she stared at her future self. How could she be the head of the institute? That was Alec’s right! Why on earth would she take the position which Alec trained himself for and worked hard with full blood, sweat and tears for? She didn’t understand.

As if sensing something in his sister, Alec took his eyes off Isabelle and looked at Izzy to see she seemed to be glaring at her future self?

“Izzy? What’s wrong?” Alec asked but Izzy stayed quiet.

“Wait…Clary caused you all to time travel?” Isabelle suddenly interrupted them “Clary just what did you do? I can’t say you have done anything like this to my memory before” she asked as she looked at the young red-head.

“Biscuit here wanted to create a future telling rune and I was helping her. What I saw her design seemed like it would work. Though I didn’t realise a vision prediction rune could cause time travel” Magnus trailed as he looked at Clary, trying his best to avoid looking at Alec. Magnus knew he had no right to feel any burn from Alec’s recent nuptial news, after all they hadn’t even started anything official but he knew that they had felt something and that Alec was very aware of it. Though thinking about the fact that they were 10 years in the future cut his heart, the Alec of this time though nowhere to be seen must be probably married to Lydia and they probably already have children now. It hurt to think or even predict what Alec of this time was doing so he tried to focus on this future Isabelle.

“I-I was trying to draw it when Alec burst in and I think I ruined it. Though the oddest thing is, I drew the rune in my hand but” she flashed them her wrist “It’s not there anymore. So I am not sure what exactly happened…” Clary trailed.

“If any of you had bothered to actually keep me in the loop then maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess” Alec cut through as he glared at them.

“Alec…you know we did that to keep you out of trouble…no other reason.” Jace said it as he looked at Alec guiltily.

“Christ we used to be such a mess in 2016” Isabelle piped in as she stared at them.

“Where is Alec?” Izzy suddenly asked as she looked at Isabelle, distrust and anger in her eyes. The sudden question had everyone in the room startled. No one had been expecting that random question ,especially since they were dealing with time travel issues and Clary’s odd rune skills. Why on earth would Izzy ask about future Alec? Magnus appeared uncomfortable as he was in no mood to see a happily married Alec in this future.

“Izz, is now the time to ask that?” Alec asked in confusion as he looked at his little sister. Izzy however did not look away from Isabelle.

“Where is Alec? It makes no sense for you to be the head of institute. That’s-that’s Alec’s job. He’s perfect for it. He worked so hard for it so why the hell are you-are we the head? That is bullshit!” Izzy said it, bursting out as a tint of anger was in her voice. Her words startled Alec, Jace, Clary and Magnus. Alec especially was shocked at hearing this coming from her. He hadn’t been expecting her to say something like this. Yes he can’t deny it, he did want to lead. He sought to gain that position and help lead their organization but seeing his sister in the head of institute position did surprise but also made him proud. At least the institute was still in their family. And it’s his sister. Still it did make him wonder just what his own future held in place since it didn’t seem to be the way he had been expecting. Not a sign of him anywhere in the institute when everyone had come to attack them. It made him worry for his own future, but he didn’t hate his sister for that. He was proud of her position and he didn’t understand why Izzy was so angry. She should be proud of her own future.

“Izzy…” Jace trailed as he looked at her.

They all looked away from Izzy to look at Isabelle. But all of them got a shock when they saw Isabelle’s reaction. Isabelle did not look surprised by Izzy’s anger or offended. She instead smiled, having a knowing look in her eyes.

“All I can say is, things change a lot in the future” Isabelle trailed. But she still didn’t answer just where Alec was.

“Where is Alec?” Izzy asked again, her voice more angry now.

Before Isabelle could say anything they heard the sound of door opening. They all whipped their head to see the office door open and 1 figure walked in. The gang froze as they saw who was coming in through the door. He was taller, looking older but he still had the same blond hair and he was glad in black. Alec recognized the runes, especially the parabatai rune that he had identical. In front of them was the older version of their Jace. And as if that wasn’t shocking enough, in older Jace’s arms was what appeared to be a red-haired 4 year old boy who had his arms around older Jace’s neck.

“Yo Izz, what is going on? I heard a big commotion 10 minutes ago and everyone seems to be very weirded out at the moment. No one could tell me any straight answer, just what the shitting hell is going on?” older Jace asked as he looked at Isabelle. He hadn’t turned back to notice the 5 gaping figures behind him.

“Shit!” chirped the 4 year old red-haired boy in Jace’s arms. Immediately Jace groaned.

“Alexander, don’t-don’t ever repeat or say that. Your mother is going to make me sleep in the dog house!” Jace suddenly spoke, his voice going loud as he laughed nervously.

“Wow, congratulations, you taught your son his first swear word Jace” Isabelle said it as she laughed out-loud.

“Son?!” Jace shouted out-loud

“Alexander?” Is all Alec said as he stared at the red haired boy in older Jace’s arms. His…his name sake? Jace somehow settles down to have a child and name said child after him? Alec wasn’t sure how he felt about that but he did feel touched.

The older Jace turned, appearing defensive but when he saw their faces he froze and then turned to look at Isabelle.

“Shapeshifters?” Jace asked as he looked at Isabelle.

“No that would be easy and simple. It’s more complicated. They’re us from the past” Isabelle said it as she sighed “I am sure of it as well, they know things that only we would know.”

Older Jace turned to look at them again. The boy, Alexander seemed to notice them as he pointed at them and giggled.

“Daddy, why do they look like you, mommy and my aunt and uncles?”

Alec’s eyes widened and the Jace beside him gasped visibly. All eyes went towards Clary who also looked shocked with her face burning. There were only 2 women where Alexander was pointing and it was highly unlikely to be Izzy. And the boy’s hair colour certainly made it certain who he was referring to. Alec didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Looks like Clary was sticking around in the future near his family. A permanent fixture by the looks of it.

“I-no way…what?” past Jace muttered.

Older Jace completely ignored himself and he stopped his gaze to look at Magnus and Alec and raised his eyebrows. He then looked back at Isabelle.

“Is there a reason they are so apart?” they heard older Jace ask Isabelle. The question itself was confusing as Alec couldn’t work out what Jace was talking about.

“They are early 2016, like really early. They seem to be looking for Jocelyn. Like early early days” Isabelle spoke up.

“We met Clary 4 days ago” Alec piped in.

“That explains so much, especially that look on Alec” older Jace declared.

At his words, Alec blinked. Just what the hell did Jace mean? Older Jace turned to look at him, still holding his name sake (he couldn’t get his head around the fact that Jace had a child).

“It’s crazy to see you like this again Alec, I forget how things used to be back in the day” he muttered.

“What do you mean by that exactly?” Magnus spoke up after a long time of silence. He couldn’t help it, Alec was his weak spot somehow and he wanted to yet also didn’t want to know. But curiosity was too strong.

But Older Jace didn’t reply. Hell he seemed to smile at Magnus and started to laugh hard instead. The reaction was so odd that the gang stared at them in surprise.

“Do I go crazy in 10 years?” Jace asked, still trying his best to ignore his future life state that somehow involved being with Clary enough to conceive a child.

“I know, this is very amusing blast from the past.” Isabelle chipped in, “But pull yourself together Jace. I need you to do something for me. I didn’t get to get the whole story out of them but it’s clear we need to invite certain people. Call the Consul” Isabelle demanded as she looked at Jace. Older Jace simply raised his eyebrows and chuckled harder.

“Okay, okay I will call our High Consul” he said it and then turned to go out of the same door he had come in.

Once he was gone, there was further confusion in the room.

“Why on earth are you inviting the Consul here? How can he help?” Alec asked as he looked at his future sister on confusion.

“How can Malachi contribute anything to this?” Magnus asked, appearing confused “You’re better off consulting a warlock. I’d help but even I am unsure just how we caused this without using any magic but something must have caused it. I don’t get how Malachi could help…”

Magnus’s words were interrupted when the door opened again and there was a blur. Jace, Alec and Izzy almost got ready to defend but they stopped when the figure stopped just beside Isabelle and bend to kiss her. A kiss that wasn’t unwanted and Isabelle didn’t appear to be surprised but she welcomed it. Though Clary was confused, Alec, Jace, Izzy and Magnus had enough senses to recognize that this was a vampire. Looks like Isabelle was dating a vampire in the future. Only way a vampire could wander around the institute this casually.

Though when the vampire figure pulled back, only then did they recognize the profile. Immediately they all froze.

“Simon?!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, still no sign of future Alec or Magnus but hey they are the big guns. We gotta build upto it. They will show up soon! I hope you guy's enjoyed this chapter! Let me what you think about it!


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